As many of you know, Social Media Marketing has become one
of the most crucial marketing strategies for companies nowadays. The first
question that would arise is WHY?
Social media has become very popular among millions of people
around the world. Users describe social media websites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, etc.) as addicting and
perfect for easy and convenient interaction with friends. It works great for
people that have friends in other parts of the world, or that don’t have time
to meet with friends because of their hectic schedules and fast pace lives.
At the same time, this became a perfect opportunity for many
companies to be able to interact with customers. The fact that they would be
able to reach out millions of users throughout advertisements via these online
sites was exciting, but even more exciting became the fact that they could use
the tool of social media to interact directly with the consumers.
Many disadvantages have been brought to the table when it
comes to companies interacting with customers via social media websites. Even
though these might discourage a company, I would never suggest leaving your
company out of social media marketing.
This is the biggest medium of communication nowadays, and a company with
no Twitter, or Facebook accounts, among others, would be literally an outcast!
We need to have in mind that any strategy will always have its pros and cons.
I will now present some negative issues that can arise due
to interacting with customers in social media websites, and their solutions or
“on the bright side” statements:
1-
Interacting
in social media websites takes a lot of time, and time is money.
We have to understand that although is difficult to measure the ROI for social media marketing, this definitely creates a
great value, brand awareness, and customer loyalty that in the long run, are crucial
for a company’s growth and development in an industry. Any company facing
issues with having to spend a lot of time in order to answer their customers’
feedbacks and questions, should have a staff dedicated to social media which only tasks would be to be on top of
these accounts. Some companies might need a bigger staff depending on the
amount of followers and users interacting on their website. A company should
never stop the interaction because this will slower down the customer awareness
of the brand since many other companies will come to play, and catch their
attention. There are many approaches to minimize the costs incurred with social
marketing, and get the most of it.
2- Social Media is
full of many companies interacting too.
It might become more difficult to attract customers due to
the fact that there are many companies that use the tool of social media, but
this would happen anyways in other mediums. The key is to be creative! Also, social
media is a good way to track your competitor’s tactics.
3- Negativity may
arise from interaction.
Word of mouth has always been there. Every company will
always have bad word of mouth for many different reasons. Not every customer
will be satisfied with your product, and this is something any firm needs to
deal with. I personally believe that the same medium used to spread a negative
comment or feedback, would be the best to use to revert the effect. On the bright side, the bad feedbacks will be
able to be measured, and somewhat controlled because these can traceable. The
company could learn from these feedbacks and know what the consumers are really
looking for. Customization would be more assertive!
In conclusion, even though the ROI results for social media
marketing are very hard to measure, the creation of value and brand image are
worth the struggle. Be aware that recurring to social media is a never-ending
project, but the positive outcomes and uses can be infinite!
This is an interesting video about the importance of social media marketing nowadays!
Enjoy Sharing!
-Nicole Quinones
Sources:
Cohen, Heidi (2011), "Do You Know What Your Social Media Marketing Really Costs?", ClickZ (July 11), <http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2086747/social-media-marketing-costs>
Ray, Augie (2010), "The ROI Of Social Media Marketing: More Than Dollars And
Cents", Forrester (July 19), <http://blogs.forrester.com/augie_ray/10-07-19 roi_social_media_marketing_more_dollars_and_cents>
The ship that is Social Media continues to sail the seas. I agree that if your company isn't "on board", it will shortly drown. Metaphors aside, I think the author of this post brings up an excellent point. Yes, social media and interaction has its pros and cons. But doesn't everything?! The cons that will arise through negative word of mouth and more costly media management will never compare to the negative effects of not participating in social media at all. Your company might as well use a horse and carriage to deliver products. The companies that will see the most success from online media are the ones who are best at listening to what their customers. Good or bad, this should be used a basis for product improvements and marketing strategies.
ReplyDeleteI like your blog and I think that Social Media a one the ways companies can interact with their taget audience, it is the most popular because a lot people spend time in this platform communicating with their peers. Nevertheless, is not the only only way that interactivity could be achieved. For example, Youtube channels, emails auto-responders, Text messages are other resources that could be combined into online interactive strategy to avoid putting all the eggs in one basket.
ReplyDeleteI have to completely agree with what you say here, and it is also what I mentioned in my latest blog. The fact is social media is a powerful tool and the positive rewards for companies that use it is infinite. I also agree with what you said that companies can learn from negative feedback put out by customers. I also mentioned this in my blog and I think it's almost a positive aspect in disguise. By being aware of customers' dissatisfaction, companies can put forth efforts into changing what is wrong and continue to build brand loyalty .
ReplyDelete